“No motor vehicles conforming to the emission standards of Bharat Stage IV shall be sold or registered from 1st April, 2020.”

Petrol pumps in Delhi-NCR have already started selling Euro VI petrol and diesel. The order cites Article 142 of the Constitution making it mandatory for vehicle manufacturers to bring Euro VI vehicles from 1st April, 2020.

The order has been welcome by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) counsel Vijay Panjwani. He said that the switch-over to Euro VI vehicles has been long overdue as Euro VI fuel is very much available in Delhi NCR for the past one year. He further added that the switch over was being held back to facilitate the interstate movement of vehicles.

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The NCR (national capital region) could possibly migrate to BS-VI grade fuel by 1st April, 2019 itself, leading the entire nation to adopt the same by 1st April, 2020, by when the BS-VI emission norms will be mandatory as well.

In December 2017, it was speculated that the government was considering to allow registration of Bharat Stage-IV vehicles beyond 1st April, 2020, which is the deadline to adopt the BS-VI standards on emission. This could have been a big relief to the automotive industry. However, on 24th October yesterday the Supreme Court has ruled otherwise.

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Another example that is comparable with the population and number of car sales is with our neighbour China. The country has already banned the sale of diesel cars in Beijing as well as restricted the annual sale of cars in the capital to a maximum 1,50,000.

According to the World Health Organization, air pollution can be a major catalyst causing several deaths annually across the world.

Reasons Accounted for Pollution in India :

Burning Fuelwood and Biomass tops the list

70% of air pollution is caused by vehicles

Burning of Fossil Fuels such as Coal and Diesel reduces the growth of rice harvest in India

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WHAT ARE EURO EMISSION STANDARDS?

The Euro emission standards seek to restrict the toxic gas that comes from vehicles so that a cleaner and breathable air can be achieved.

Euro 1 was introduced in 1992 by the EU to regulate and standardize the amount of carbon monoxide (CO) and other poisonous chemicals being emitted by motor vehicles. Later, there were total six levels of Euro emission standards adopted by different countries of the world. The most recent one, which is Euro 6, was introduced in September 2014, nearly two decades after the first level came out.

Euro 6 level only allows CO emission of only 1.0g/km for gasoline and 0.5g/km for diesel. Nitrogen Oxide (NOx) is harmful to humans as well as to animals and the last level of focuses more on lowering the Nitrogen content.